Pritchett, who raced the quickest pass in NHRA history during qualifying, ran a 3.682-second pass at 328.06 mph in her Papa John’s Pizza dragster to defeat Don Schumacher Racing teammate and reigning world champion Antron Brown's 4.001 at 246.35 in his Matco Tools dragster in his fifth consecutive finals appearance.

“Don Schumacher has given me the best team, in my opinion,” Pritchett said. “We keep continuing to prove that. I really like that these numbers and their work ethic and the consistency really backs it up when I say we have the best team because we have the best hot rod. We’re going to enjoy this win.”

Pritchett defeated Rob Passey, Scott Palmer and Clay Millican before facing off against Brown who defeated Shawn Langdon, Brittany Force and Steve Torrence en route to his 10th final round appearance of the season. With his win over Torrence in the semifinals, Brown now leads the Top Fuel points standings.

In Funny Car, DeJoria raced to her first win of the season, fifth of her career and the 250th women’s victory in NHRA history when she defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. in the finals. Her 3.906 pass at 330.96 in her Tequila Patron Toyota Camry bettered Johnson Jr.’s 3.933 at 324.44 in his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T.

“The last two years have been really difficult,” DeJoria said. “Lots of ups and downs, injuries, no wins, we just couldn’t get up to speed with everybody else. We were fighting so hard out there and you start to lose yourself in it. You start to forget the love that you had in the beginning. It’s times like those that make this so much better. You really appreciate every moment. This is a huge win for us.”

DeJoria raced against Tim Wilkerson, Cruz Pedregon and 16-time world champ John Force before making it to her first finals appearance of the season. Johnson Jr. defeated rookie Jonnie Lindberg, Courtney Force and world record holder Robert Hight before falling to Dejoria in the finals. It was his fifth finals appearance of the season.

Pro Stock rookie Gray powered to the fourth victory of his career defeating points leader Bo Butner with a 6.610 at 208.04 in his Gray Motorsports / Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro. Butner, who has secured the No. 1 seed heading into the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs, raced a 6.629 at 207.85 in his Jim Butner’s Auto Chevy Camaro.

“I’m not sure what my team has done but they’ve got a handle on this car the last few races," Gray said. "They got something going right for them over there. They’re making my job a whole lot easier and I’m just blessed to be able to sit in the driver’s seat.”

Gray defeated two-time world champion Erica Enders and reigning world champion Jason Line before reaching the finals. Butner defeated Doug Rivers, Gray’s father, Shane Gray and KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson to get to his eighth finals appearance of the season.

Savoie, the Pro Stock Motorcycle reigning world champion, defeated teammate and points leader LE Tonglet in the finals for his second win of the season and eighth of his career. Savoie’s 6.846 pass at 194.80 on his White Alligator Racing Suzuki bettered Tonglet’s 6.910 at 194.02 on his Nitro Fish Racing Suzuki.

“The season has been really good," Savoie said. "I’ve had some misfortune a couple times and my riding hasn’t been like it should be. LE is solid as a rock so when you beat him it’s pretty rewarding. He’s taught me a lot and I’ve taught him some things and we thrive off each other. We bring out the best in each other and that’s what it takes to win races.”

Savoie faced Mike Berry, Angie Smith and Matt Smith before lining up against Tonglet in his third finals appearance of the season. Tonglet, who has five victories this season, raced past 2016 Rookie of the Year Cory Reed and five-time world champ Andrew Hines before facing his teammate.

Racing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season continues at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for the 63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the world’s biggest drag race, Aug. 30-Sept. 4.

Leah Pritchett’s quickest run in NHRA history withstood Saturday qualifying at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway to earn her the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier.

Robert Hight (Funny Car), Tanner Gray (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also secured the No. 1 qualifying position in their respective categories at the 17th of 24 events on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Pritchett’s 3.640-second pass at 330.63 mph in her Papa John’s Pizza dragster from Friday night secured her sixth No. 1 of the season and seventh of her career. In the first round of eliminations, Pritchett will face off against Rob Passey.

“Brainerd is the epitome of throw down central so that’s what we did last night,” Pritchett said. “Today was about getting ready for Sunday. Obviously, our national record gave us, delivered us, blessed us with a green hat but Q4 today was looking pretty good for us. We threw down last night and today was just about race day.”

Brittany Force is qualified second with a run of 3.64 at 333.16 in her Monster Energy dragster and will face Steve Chrisman while Doug Kalitta is in the third spot and will race Terry Haddock.

Hight sits at the top of the Funny Car field after running the elapsed-time national record of 3.793 at 338.00 in his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro during Friday’s qualifying. It is his third consecutive No. 1, fifth of the season, 54th of his career and first at Brainerd International Raceway . He’ll face Dale Creasy Jr. in eliminations.

“We smoked the tires in Q3 for the first time in 11 runs, that’s impressive,” Hight said. “I think sometimes it’s a good thing to push a little on Saturday so you know your limitations for Sunday. We need to make four good runs here tomorrow and get back to the winners circle. First round is going to be killer, the track will still be cool and you’ll see 3.80s in Funny Car.”

Matt Hagan holds the No. 2 position in his Pennzoil / Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T with his 3.807 pass at 336.57 that will have him face Cruz Pedregon in eliminations and 16-time world champion John Force is third and will be matched up with Jim Campbell.

Rookie Gray leads the Pro Stock category with his pass of 6.607 at 208.17 in his Gray Motorsports / Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro from Friday. It was his third No. 1 qualifier.

“All my guys have given me great equipment,” Gray said. “In racing it’s not so much about the driver anymore, it’s about the equipment you have behind you. I’ve been blessed to be put in some awesome equipment. I’ve done a small part: just let go when you see the light and push or pull. The guys have given me a fast race car. Hats off to them, they’re the reason behind all the success.”

Points leader Bo Butner is in the No. 2 spot with his pass of 6.617 at 207.69 in his Jim Butner's Auto Chevy Camaro and will face David River in the first round. Veteran Allen Johnson is third and will compete against Mark Hogan.

Arana Jr. raced to his first No. 1 qualifier of the season with a 6.879 pass at 194.24 on his Lucas Oil Buell from Friday. It is the 19th No. 1 of his career. He will lineup against James Underdahl in the first round of eliminations.

“This means a lot to me, not only me but everybody back at the shop, everybody on the crew,” Arana said. “Everybody worked so hard for this and it’s nice to finally get the results that we’re getting. It’s really awesome. It’s so awesome to get the number one. It really does mean a lot.

Reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Jerry Savoie is qualified second with a 6.882 at 193.57 from Saturday qualifying and will have to get past Mike Berry in the first round. Matt Smith is third and will see Fred Camarena in the first round.

Pritchett piloted her Papa John’s Pizza dragster to the quickest run in NHRA history with a pass of 3.640-seconds at 330.63 mph to close out the second qualifying session while Hight’s 3.793 pass at 338.00 in his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS also landed him in the record books.

Pritchett held the previous Top Fuel national record of 3.658 set in Phoenix at the beginning of the season.

“We’ve looked forward to this night session for a long time,” Pritchett said. “Knowing that Brainerd, this track, this surface, the conditions and what NHRA is able to do to it, lays down the ground work for us to pull out the most power possible. That’s what this team did. They have been working tirelessly at finding small amounts of power here, there and everywhere and to be able to put it on the track tonight was incredible.”

Rounding out the top-three heading into Saturday qualifying are Brittany Force who ran a 3.685 pass at 333.16 in her Monster Energy machine and Doug Kalitta with a 3.694 pass at 330.31 in his Mac Tools dragster.

Hight’s pass was the first 3.7 second run in Funny Car history, he also holds the Funny Car national speed record of 339.87 set recently at Sonoma Raceway.

“I could tell it was running fast and I saw the 3.79 on the scoreboard,” Hight said. “It’s just something you dream about. There are so many things that have to happen and work together for it all to come together. It’s not that easy. This is a big milestone. To be part of a milestone as a driver, this was big for me.”

Currently qualified second is Matt Hagan in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T with a 3.807 pass at 336.57 and 16-time world champion John Force is third in his PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS.

In Pro Stock, rookie Gray holds the No. 1 position with a 6.607 at 208.617 in his Gray Motorsports / Vavoline Chevrolet Camaro holding off points leader Bo Butner who is second with a 6.617 at 207.69 in his Jim Butner’s Auto Chevrolet Camaro.

“We went out there and made a conservative run for Q1 to make sure we could get some data,” Gray said. “It kind of paid off. If you can go out there and make, obviously a fast run, but just a solid run to collect data then it sets you up really good for sessions like this. I’m very fortunate to be able to drive this thing and it’s going well right now.”

In the third position is Pro Stock veteran and 2012 world champion Allen Johnson with a 6.622 at 206.86.

Arana Jr. leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle field after running a 6.879 pass at 194.24 on his Lucas Oil Buell in the second qualifying session.

“It feels good to be up here. It’s been a while. It’s about time,” Arana Jr. said “We’re really working hard and we got the bike running well and it just seems that there’s something that just gets right by us. Hopefully this is the weekend where that turns around. We feel pretty confident that we still have room to improve off that run so we’re excited to see what happens tomorrow.”

Matt Smith is qualified second with a 6.884 at 195.22 on his Polaris Racing Victory and Scott Pollacheck is currently third on his Suzuki Extended Protection Suzuki with a 6.908 at 193.54.

Friday's results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, 17th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Eric Bell's classic Mopar, a GT/EA 1968 Barracuda, drove to the top of the 51-car Super Stock field with a 9.104 elapsed time, -0.996 under the index. The Pontiacs of Bill Rink (SS/MA) and Michael Mans (SS/AS) rounded out the top three.

Jackie Olson's P/Stock Automatic 1986 GMC was the top qualifier in Stock with a 12.194, -1.256 under the index. The slower end of the Stock index spectrum ruled the roost as the V/Stock Automatic Buick Regal of Jay Randall was second, while Brian Seaburg's T/Stock Automatic 72 Comet was third.

Jenifer White ran a 6.191, 218.65 to pace Top Dragster while former Pro Stock racer Paul Pittman led Top Sportsman with a 6.515, 214.55.